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ILLUMINATING OFF-CAMERA FLASH

TECHNIQUES TIPS AND TRICKS

TO HELP YOU RUN A BETTER BUSINESSAMAZING IMAGES

OF DETROIT

BLOG ROLE: HOW TO MAKE MORE OF YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE

GET TO GRIPS WITH LIGHTROOM Simple steps for easy watermarking

PHOTOKINA 2012 ROUND-UP All the news from this year’s show

GO BEYOND THE WEBWhy offline promotion is crucial

In depth tests and guides to studio kits, LED lights and flash triggers and flash triggers

LIGHTING

Top experts reveal unmissable tips for survival through the winter monthsWEDDINGS

ISSUE 73 NOVEMBER 2012

Formula for successDon’t miss Darren Heath’s beautiful motorsport images

DRIVING FORCE

MORE MONEY FROM

Why offline promotion is crucial WIN!EPSON

PRINTER

£670

LIGHTING16-PAGE SPECIAL

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CONTENTSISSUE 73 NOVEMBER 2012

Business MattersPro Academy Gear

Regulars

030 LIGHTING MASTERCLASSCOVER We speak to pro photographer Klark Grant about the techniques he uses to light portraits – and show you how to recreate the effects yourself

038 GETTING TO GRIPS WITH ADOBE LIGHTROOMCOVER In the second part of our Lightroom series, Dave Stevenson shows you how to watermark your images to protect them from copyright infringement. Simple but vital info!

046 OFF-CAMERA FLASHCOVER Think you can’t use off-camera flash for commercial projects? Read this illuminating article and see the light!

080 STUDIO LIGHTING TEST COVER Adam Duckworth takes a look at some of the latest studio lighting systems from key manufacturers, trying them out both in the studio and on location. Don’t miss his definitive verdict

090 PROFESSIONAL LED LIGHTS COVER Philip Nash tests out the new generation of continuous light panels from Rotolight and Bowens and looks at the technology behind them

096 BUYERS’ GUIDE: TRIGGERSCOVER Want to fire a flash remotely? There are plenty of products to help you do just that. We’ve hand-picked some of the finest to feature in this round-up

051 BUSINESS MATTERSCOVER Top advice from our experts to help you run your business better

054 MAKE MORE MONEY 054 MAKE MORE MONEY 054FROM WEDDINGSCOVER Is winter a period of discontent for your wedding business? Shake off the blues with these expert tips

066 BLOG ROLECOVER Blogs play a crucial role in promoting your business. Here’s how to make sure yours works to full potential

070 G0 BEYOND THE WEBCOVER Don’t limit marketing to online promotion. We look at the other options

006 INBOX 006 INBOX 006COVER The Photo Pro team was out in Photo Pro team was out in Photo Proforce at the recent Photokina show. Read all the details on launches from Nikon, Canon, Sony and many more, then make an appointment with the bank manager!

016 PORTFOLIO: DARREN HEATH 016 PORTFOLIO: DARREN HEATH 016COVER With unprecedented access to the McLaren F1 racing team, Darren Heath creates motorsport images that are both unique and beautiful. We showcase some of his finest work

022 PROJECT: DETROITUSCOVER Matt Howell travels to Detroit to produce a haunting personal project on the once-great Motor City

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Subscriptions & back issues: www.photopromagazine.com, call 01371 851876 or see p65 for our special offer…

080080Whether you want to use lighting in the studio or on location, don’t miss our 16-page test special

NOVEMBER 2012 PHOTO PROFESSIONAL 005

Photo Professional is published on the Photo Professional is published on the Photo Professionalfirst Thursday of every month by Bright Publishing Ltd, Bright House, 82 High Street, Sawston, Cambridge, CB22 3HJ.

No part of this magazine can be used without prior written permission of Bright Publishing Ltd. Photo Professional is a registered trademark of Bright Professional is a registered trademark of Bright ProfessionalPublishing Ltd. The advertisements published in Photo Professional that have been written, designed or produced by employees of Bright Publishing Ltd remain the copyright of Bright Publishing Ltd and may not be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher.

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Bright House, 82 High Street, Sawston, Cambridge CB22 3HJTelephone 01223 499450 Fax 01223 839953enquiries@bright-publishing.comwww.photopromagazine.comeditorialEditorTerry Hope 01959 [email protected] EditorsLiz Greening 01223 499450Lisa Clatworthy 01223 499450Editorial DirectorRoger Payne 01223 [email protected] ManagerMatt Snow 01223 [email protected] Accounts Maria Francis 01223 499457 [email protected] Elliott 01223 [email protected] Development DirectorDave Stone 01223 [email protected] Sales ExecutiveNatalie Howlett 01223 499458 [email protected] advertising copy to: [email protected] & productionDesign Director Andy JenningsDesign Director Dean UsherDesign & Production Manager Grant GillardpublishingPublishing Director Andy BrogdenPublishing Director Matt PluckHead of Circulation Chris HaslumMarketing Manager Kelly Tarrant

No part of this magazine can be used without prior written permission of Bright Publishing Ltd. ProfessionalPublishing Ltd. The advertisements published in Photo Professional that have been written, designed or produced by employees of Bright Publishing Ltd remain the copyright of Bright Publishing Ltd and may not be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher.

Can’t find a copy?ProfessionalSimply contact: COMAG, Tavistock Road, West Drayton, Middlesex, UB7 7QE Alternatively call 01895 433600.

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Subscriptions & back issues: www.photopromagazine.com, call 01371 851876 or see p65 for our special offer…

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PORTFOLIO | DARREN HEATH

IMPRESSIONSOF SPEED

A new book from Formula 1 specialist photographer Darren Heath reveals another, gentler, side to this traditionally high-octane sport, one in which the focus has been thrown firmly on a more artistic approach WORDS TERRY HOPE PICTURES DARREN HEATH

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PORTFOLIO | DARREN HEATH

f course this is the shot that every F1 fan demands, but the attraction of this sport goes way beyond such high intensity moments. Those who are addicted to the whole F1 circus

love everything that goes with it, from the test sessions through to the build up, the quieter moments as mechanics prepare the gladiators for action and the spark of tension that grips the crowd as the countdown to the start gets underway. While every wannabee F1 photographer will know all about the obvious shots, there are precious few who understand the sport enough to be able to see and record the other aspects as well.

One of those who very clearly lives and breathes the F1 way of life is Darren Heath, who has been covering the sport with his camera since 1988 and is now well into his 24th season. He’s the master of the action shot naturally, but no career could last that long if you couldn’t add some variety to the mix as well, and his latest book, The Art of Racing, commissioned by McLaren and featuring shots that fully explore the beauty that comes alongside the sometimes brutal aggression that occurs at the height of the race, will perhaps surprise a few who have never seen that side before.

“As a child I loved Formula 1,” says Darren, “and once I discovered how much I enjoyed photography I made it my life’s work to combine the two. All my spare teenage time and most of my teenage money was spent on camera equipment and getting to race tracks so that I could improve

WE’VE ALL GOT THE VISUAL IN OUR HEAD OF A TRADITIONAL FORMULA 1 PICTURE, ONE IN WHICH THE CAR IS HURTLING INTO A BEND, SMOKE BILLOWING AS THE RUBBER BURNS FROM THE TYRES AND THE LEADING CONTENDERS JOSTLING CLOSE BEHIND FOR POSITION. OUR IMAGINATION SUPPLIES THE SOUND TRACK, THE DEAFENING SCREAM OF OVERWORKED ENGINES AND THE EXHILARATING SCREECH AS THE CORNER IS TAKEN AT FRIGHTENING SPEED. SURELY THIS IS WHAT THIS HIGH-OCTANE SPORT IS ALL ABOUT: MAN AND MACHINE PUSHED TO THE ABSOLUTE LIMITS IN A THRILLING RACE TO THE FINISH?

my technique. In the summer of 1987, portfolio in hand, I took myself off to north London and cold-called top F1 snapper John Townsend. Luckily for me John was fantastically generous with his time, and he gave me the names and numbers of all his F1 photographer colleagues.

“After completing my college photography course I started as a junior black and white printer at the premier F1 photo agency of the time; Zooom Photographic. It was then a case of proving to the bosses that I was worthy of shooting at race events for the company’s clients. I shot more than 35 race weekends in my first year (1988) to get more experience, and I covered everything from Formula First through to Formula Ford, FF2000, Opel Lotus Euro Series, F3, BTCC and F3000, all in that first season.

“My goal of shooting a foreign F1 race was finally achieved at the 1989 German Grand Prix. After that I shot about ten to 12 grand prix races a year for a few years while also covering every round of the F3000 International Championship. At the beginning of 1994 I left Zooom to pursue a freelance career, and I’ve shot at every F1 race since.”

Staying at the topGiven the high profile of the sport, and the number of photographers clamouring to break into its privileged ranks, it’s extraordinary that Darren has stayed at the top of his game for so long, and he puts the fact that he managed to make his own breakthrough in the first place and subsequently has retained his place at the top table, down to tenacity and a sheer appetite for hard work.

“Dedication, enthusiasm, application and determination have all played a part,” he says. “Just like any other aspirational career

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All my spare teenage time and most of my teenage money was spent on camera equipment

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PORTFOLIO | DARREN HEATH

TOP Lewis Hamilton racing for McLaren at the Brazilian Grand Prix, November 2010LEFT Hamilton at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, November 2011 ABOVE Wheel washing by McLaren at the Turkish Grand Prix, May 2011© Darren Heath, from McLaren: The Art of Racing by Darren Heath and Maurice Hamilton

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ommercial work pays the bills, but most professional photographers understand the benefits that come from personal and charity projects – complete

creative freedom and the flexibility to try out fresh techniques. Fashion and celebrity snapper, Karl Grant certainly understands this principle. He regularly sets himself challenges, to move in new directions and develop additional skills while producing attention-grabbing shots, like the ones here, for his portfolio.

Karl first became interested in photography while studying for his O levels at school in Salford. Inspired by the American modernist Man Ray, he studied photography at Harrow College (now Westminster University) and started shooting portraits for fashion designers, including Roland Klein. Karl soon found himself shooting Roland Klein’s autumn/winter collection, before progressing onto music portraits, photographing artists such as Betty Boo for Record Mirror. Eventually he found himself an agent and broadened his client base before purchasing his own studio in Mallorca in 2003. The move allowed him to maintain his career momentum while dividing his time between London and Spain.

What inspires you to shoot personal work? KG I really like shooting personal stuff as I

think it keeps you connected with the creative side of photography. Commissioned work is great as it throws up a range of different challenges within set parameters, plus it pays! However, personal projects are hugely important; they allow you to work freely and more creatively. It then becomes more about your personal vision as opposed to meeting that of another person.

The bullfighting image is amazing. Tell me about the work you’ve been doing with PETA.

KG I’ve worked for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) for over ten years now. I enjoy the collaboration, because I believe in their cause and they give me a lot of discretion and creative control. The key behind any campaign is getting the message across in the photograph, as it can’t rely on slogans and narrative alone. It needs to be visually stimulating so it captures the viewer’s

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L I G H T I N G M A S T E R C L A S S

Personal and non-commercial projects can benefit even the most experienced of professionals, and they’ve allowed Karl Grant to massively expand his creative boundariesmassively expand his creative boundariesWORDS CHRISTIAN HOUGH PICTURES KARL GRANT

attention and I find shock tactics work the best. We live in a world where advertising and entertainment portray everything as soft and rosy, whereas in reality the truth behind a lot of things is quite the opposite. Nobody expects to see blood or bruising in a photograph. If a picture raises awareness, then it’s done its job.

Tell me more about the bullfighting campaign.KG As most people know, bullfighting is a

Spanish tradition, albeit one that many consider cruel. However, bullfighting is a business and tourists are a lucrative revenue stream for the industry. One of PETA’s objectives is to raise awareness amongst tourists and to dissuade them from attending bullfighting events.

What gave you the idea for this shot?KG The PETA tagline was ‘The Naked Truth –

Bullfighting is Cruel,’ so I wanted to shoot something that fitted in with this and got the necessary message across. My idea was to take something quintessentially Spanish and aesthetically beautiful, such as the model Elen Rivas, and then illustrate the brutality of bullfighting.

How did she and PETA react to the idea?KG PETA was keen and sure that it would hit

the target audience, plus it fitted perfectly with the tagline. Elen too was really keen on the idea and she’s a keen supporter of PETA. The image however created quite a bit of a stir. Elen’s management company wanted the image to be cropped so you couldn’t see her buttocks, but Elen herself insisted that it was run full length. To add to this, it was meant to run in Easyjet’s in-flight magazine but they refused to carry it. Fortunately there’s nothing like a bit of controversy to really create a lot of good publicity!

Personal and non-commercial projects can benefit even the most experienced of professionals, and they’ve allowed Karl Grant to

pUSHING THe BoUNdarIeS

The image created quite a bit of a stir. It was meant to run in Easyjet’s in-flight magazine but they refused. There’s nothing like controversy to create good publicity

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ABOVE For this PETA campaign, Karl wanted an image to raise awareness RIGHT He set up a shot with model Elen Rivas seemingly brutalised with banderillas – sharp, barbed sticks used to spear bulls

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business matters

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WINTER WEDDINGS SPECIAL

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WINTER WEDDINGS

The wedding phoTography businesshas changed beyond all recognition over the past few years, and anyone planning to target this area for at least part of their income has had to come to terms with what the modern bride and groom are looking for in this day and age. Unfortunately for those who are hoping for a little guidance here, the simple fact is that this whole area has fragmented hugely as more and more people have decided to create their own traditions and to do their own thing, and weddings are now so diverse that no single approach can hope to cater for everyone.

It’s not just the style of weddings that’s changed, however, nor the approach that people might expect from their photographer, it’s also the whole concept of when and where it’s appropriate for the service to be held. Where once there were clearly defined wedding ‘seasons’ and everyone got married on a Saturday afternoon in their local church, now the lines are blurring and couples are realising that they do actually have a choice.

The fact that there is a vast array of wedding and reception venues to choose from these days, and that many of them are easier to book and substantially cheaper to hire in the winter months has encouraged many people to look again at the date when they might tie the knot. The good news is that this has meant this time of year is not quite the bleak period for wedding bookings that it once was.

The not-so-good news is that winter weddings tend to make a lot more demands on the photographer in that it gets darker

MAkING SENSE of

winterFor those who earn at least part of their income from weddings the winter can prove

to be something of a challenge, but here’s how a selection of photographers have made sure this is a profitable time of year

WORDS TERRY HOPE PICTURES VARIOUS

a lot earlier, it’s usually too cold for people to venture outside for too long and the weather can make things difficult. However, if you can get your head around the idea of working with light, whether that’s the light that’s available at the venue or light you might have provided yourself, then there shouldn’t be anything to really fear during the winter months and, given the summer we’ve just had, you’ll no doubt be expert by now in any case at having to improvise when the weather doesn’t behave!

In short, the potential now exists in a way that it never did before to make your wedding photography business an all-year-round operation, and more and more photographers are taking this fact on board and are tailoring their services so that they either become winter specialists or at least make it clear that they have something to offer that ensures they are all set up to deliver great images whatever the conditions. As more couples start to think out of the box in terms of the timing of their nuptials, the opportunity is there to shout about your winter wedding credentials on your website and to show examples of weddings that you’ve covered.

Make use of your timeNow let’s look at the other side of the coin. While times are changing and the winter wedding market is definitely growing, it’s still a fact that the months ahead of us remain quieter then spring and summer, and there are also many wedding photographers who don’t want to chase bookings for the full 12 months and who see this time of year as

the perfect opportunity to step back from working every weekend, to recharge the batteries and to tackle other projects that they simply wouldn’t have time to take on when everything is so full on and frantic.

There’s nothing wrong with this kind of thinking – indeed it can mean that this is the perfect opportunity to explore ideas that will help your business to perform better when the bookings pick up again – but it’s crucial to have a handle on your cash flow so that you take account of the months when there’s less coming in and spread your money out so that you have enough in the bank to tide you through the full 12 months.

You also need to have a plan in place so that you don’t end up frittering away the days when the pressure is off. So many photographers can vouch for the fact that when there’s not a deadline pending it’s tempting to take your foot off the gas. If you’re not being fully booked during the winter then plan other things and make sure your projects are worthwhile. Your time is precious, is limited and has a value – work out what you need to live on and break this down into an hourly rate.

So, looking ahead to the winter months, we’ve spoken to a number of wedding photographers who are positively anticipating the things that they will be doing to create fresh avenues of income in the future. We’ve also caught up with photographers who have acquired the skills they need to become winter wedding specialists, and have asked them for advice.

In short, you shouldn’t be anticipating heading into your quietest time of the year at all. This can be a crucial period where you make plans that will drive you forward and if you take on board what some of our case studies are getting up to over the following pages then you too could be looking to increase your profit opportunities in 2013!

winterFor those who earn at least part of their income from weddings the winter can prove

to be something of a challenge, but here’s how a selection of photographers have

winterFor those who earn at least part of their income from weddings the winter can prove

to be something of a challenge, but here’s how a selection of photographers have made sure this is a profitable time of year

winterFor those who earn at least part of their income from weddings the winter can prove

to be something of a challenge, but here’s how a selection of photographers have made sure this is a profitable time of year

PICTURES VARIOUS

winterFor those who earn at least part of their income from weddings the winter can prove

to be something of a challenge, but here’s how a selection of photographers have made sure this is a profitable time of year

TERRY HOPE

winterFor those who earn at least part of their income from weddings the winter can prove

to be something of a challenge, but here’s how a selection of photographers have made sure this is a profitable time of year

winterFor those who earn at least part of their income from weddings the winter can prove

to be something of a challenge, but here’s how a selection of photographers have

the perfect opportunity to step back from working every weekend, to recharge the batteries and to tackle other projects that

a lot earlier, it’s usually too cold for people to venture outside for too long and the weather can make things difficult. However,

a lot earlier, it’s usually too cold for people to venture outside for too long and the weather can make things difficult. However,

a lot earlier, it’s usually too cold for people to venture outside for too long and the weather can make things difficult. However,

the perfect opportunity to step back from working every weekend, to recharge the batteries and to tackle other projects that

a lot earlier, it’s usually too cold for people

weather can make things difficult. However,

a lot earlier, it’s usually too cold for people to venture outside for too long and the weather can make things difficult. However,

a lot earlier, it’s usually too cold for people to venture outside for too long and the weather can make things difficult. However,

a lot earlier, it’s usually too cold for people to venture outside for too long and the weather can make things difficult. However,

a lot earlier, it’s usually too cold for people to venture outside for too long and the weather can make things difficult. However,

a lot earlier, it’s usually too cold for people to venture outside for too long and the weather can make things difficult. However,

a lot earlier, it’s usually too cold for people to venture outside for too long and the weather can make things difficult. However,

ography businesshas changed beyond all recognition over

The potential now exists in a way that it never did before to make your wedding photography business an all-year-round operation

WINTER WEDDINGS SPECIAL

GEARGEAR

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pRofEssionAl liGhtinG tEst

Lighting is a fundamental part of photography and although speedlights can be adapted to give great results they lack the power of dedicated flash heads. Adam Duckworth takes a look and tests some of the options on offerWORDS & PICTURES ADAM DUCKWORTH

Lighting kits for the professional

t’s easy to think that being a professional photographer nowadays means you don’t have to use artificial lights, as each new generation of cameras seems to come with

an increase in maximum ISO. While stratospheric ISO may be useful for shooting a proverbial black cat in a coal cellar, the real benefit we’ve been seeing is an increase in genuinely useable ISO figures. Shots taken at ISO 1600 or 3200 are actually professionally saleable now, and that’s a huge leap forward.

However, if you are truly serious about being a professional photographer, sooner or later you are going to need to control lighting. A wedding photographer might have the luxury of being able to move the bride and groom out of the full summer sun for more flattering light in the shade, but for many working pros that option won’t be there. Yet you’ll still have to get great pictures whatever the weather, lighting conditions and location.

For truly creative or dramatic shots, you need to be able to create great lighting on demand, be that in a studio, outside a church, inside a factory or in the middle of a field. That’s why you need to master and use external light sources.

Many photographers begin by using hotshoe-style speedlights, starting off with the unit on top of the camera. The next venture is usually off-camera flash, followed by the raft of accessories – think softboxes, snoots, grids and beauty dishes – that can make speedlights emulate proper professional flash units. However, such an approach always comes with the hint of a compromise as you set about making hotshoe flashes do things they weren’t really designed to do. They struggle to fill a beauty dish with light properly, for example, while the fact that they’re running off battery power means their ultimate light output is limited and their recycle times can be lengthy when you’re shooting at high power.

If you reach the point where you decide you need to invest in some studio-style lighting kit, there is a bewildering array of products to choose from, not only in terms of brands available but also the actual types of lighting. There are mains-powered monoblock flash heads, for example – self-contained flash heads that plug into the mains to power their modelling lights and flash tubes. If you want to use them on location you need to take a separate power source such as a battery pack or even a mains generator with you. Then there are the more expensive power pack-style studio systems, where a large power pack is plugged into the mains. This pack features controls for the individual flash heads, and a single pack can power up to four heads, allowing great flexibility.

Another option is battery-powered pack systems, which are ideal for use on location. A lead acid or lithium rechargeable battery inside the pack provides the power and up to two heads can be powered from this. If you’re looking to shoot video with your DSLR, as increasing numbers of professional photographers are, another alternative is to use continuous lights, and these can double up for both moving and still photography.

While tungsten lights used to be the norm decades ago, the latest lights use either HMI or LED bulbs. They are daylight balanced, offer near-silent operation and stay pretty cool. They offer some advantages over flash, but come with some significant disadvantages as well, such as their lack of ultimate power.

All in all, there’s an awful lot of choice out there. Obviously we couldn’t look at every single option on the market, but we decided to test out four very different types of lighting kit, available at a wide range of price points, to help you select the outfit that will do the best job for you.

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RIGHT Let there be light. For the working pro, controlling light whatever the location is key. So choose the right kit to help you turn night into day, overpower the sun or simply throw some light on your subject.

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pRo LED LiGhtinG tESt

The development of the LED has led to a new generation of continuous light panels that are ideal for both still and video work. Philip Nash looks at the technology and tests out products from Rotolight and BowensWORDS & PICTURES PHILIP NASH

Continuous lighting comes of ageContinuous lighting comes of ageContinuous lighting

few weeks ago I had the opportunity to do a beauty shoot with a real difference. I was booked by Rotolight’s marketing

team to create some images with their new Anova LED lights. It was an interesting assignment because up until then I’d never attempted a classic beauty shoot using continuous lighting. I have used Dedolights as hard light sources for high contrast shots before, but on that occasion I’d almost been using them for a special effect.

That apart, all my other work has been with my studio strobes of choice, Hensel, or location shoots using my Canon 580EX Mark II Speedlites off-camera, strobist style. LED-based lighting presents a whole new way of working and brings both advantages and challenges to the photographer. Before I cover these, however, it’s worth a quick update on the technology.

Continuous lightingFor obvious reasons continuous lighting has long been the staple diet for television and film, and it was the same for still photographers until the sixties, at which point electronic flash started to become affordable and practicable. Continuous light eats up lots of power and, inconveniently, also creates a great deal of heat output. In real terms it also produces a lot less light output (lux) than even a modest flash can provide. But where still photography only needs that light for a split second, film and television needs it continuously.

Advances in lighting have come slowly, with tungsten bulbs ruling the roost for over 100 years. HMI, and especially fluorescent lighting, has increased efficiency, but the big breakthrough lies with LED. These solid state devices last for tens of thousands of hours and, due to their small size, they can be grouped together to produce different combinations of light output and colour temperature. Much of their effectiveness lies in the electronics and consequently you’ll notice wide variations between LED

panels that, superficially at least, appear to offer the same specification. How the LEDs are driven can determine whether you’ll face issues with flicker while the quality can greatly affect the accuracy and linearity of their output.

Setting up the shootFor the Anova shoot I was in the lucky position of being able to choose my team, so alongside my assistant Helen Barnett I secured the services of my regular hair and make-up artist, Tass Collier, while talented milliner, Beverley Edmondson, was my stylist. I’d also worked with my stunning model Lianne Harding-Williams many times before, so I was off to a flying start. The venue was the Skatta TV studios, next to the old BBC Television Centre, and I’d like to thank Tricia and her team for making us so welcome there.

We had four Anovas at our disposal and our first aim was to set about creating a beauty look. The great thing about using LED panels is that they provide a softer light source than a single bulb, while their main disadvantage is that they produce relatively little light output compared to a tungsten light source. With light panels it’s simply a case of getting them in close to the subject and reducing their output a little. I wanted quite even lighting so I used a panel either side of the camera and set one to around 70% of the power of the other. This gave me a nice 3:2 ratio, which was enough to create a little modelling without being distracting.

To create depth I placed two more lights behind and to the left and right of the model, facing her. I’m a massive fan of backlighting; it’s absolutely the best way to give drama and a cinematic feel to your work. As I was using continuous lighting I was able to judge the power of the backlights completely by eye. In this case however, because I was putting them further away to get them out of shot, I ran them at full power.

I’m always a little concerned when I’m using flood lights. I live by the mantra that

Aif you want to make something interesting don’t light it all, so flood (non-directional) lights can make this difficult. The Anovas, however, come with barn doors and these were very successful in terms of controlling spill. However, I believe I’ll achieve even better results once the forthcoming honeycomb is available.

I was shooting predominantly with Canon’s excellent 70-200mm f/2.8L Mark II lens using a Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III. ISO was set to 640 and I was shooting at f/4 with a shutter speed of around 1/80sec. It felt strange shooting beauty at these settings, as normally my lenses are pretty much nailed to f/11 in the studio and I never move higher than ISO 100.

I was shooting in tethered mode with Lightroom 4, and as we started to see the results we were very impressed. One potential disadvantage is that, because of the lower light levels involved, you need to keep your model still as you take the shot, so I’m not sure how well this would work for the fashion guys and their wind machines and jumping models. But for the more static portraits I was after it was great. I loved the shallow depth-of-field and the way that the differential focus really made Lianne stand out in the image.

For the outside shots we were battling a lot of lux. It was a grey, overcast day, but there was still a lot of light around so it was a challenge to get enough output from the LEDs. However, as we set it up we were getting a really pleasing quality of light and I was also able to experiment with the colour temperature of the light from the Anova. In the end I made them just a little warmer than the available light and this really helped to make the image pop.

Compared to...I had the chance to look at both the Anova and the Bowens Mosaic LED panels. At around £750 the Bowens is about half the price of Rotolight’s Anova, the downside being that it lacks some of its flexibility.

LEFT Philip set up this shot of his model Beverley Edmondson using four Rotolight Anova units, two in front of her and two more behind. The result was an image that really ‘popped’ on an overcast day

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